Hopefully this isn't too bad. I'm still having trouble with the whole writer's block thing. Let me know what you thought! Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

The ride home was relatively silent. Dawn was grumbling about having to leave, Kirsten was twisting her rings nervously in the front seat, and Sandy was driving, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Kirsten wondered if she should have rode with Seth and Ryan to make sure that Ryan was okay, but she hated to leave Sandy alone with Dawn. She looked over at him, his tense posture, and she slipped her hand onto his knee and gave it a squeeze. Glancing over at her, Sandy picked up her hand and brought it to his mouth and gave it a kiss.

"I was winning," Dawn complained from the backseat for what felt to Kirsten like the thousandth time. Kirsten rolled her eyes and ignored her. Sandy pulled the car into the driveway, and walked around the car to Dawn's side. Ryan and Seth pulled up right behind him, and Ryan walked to Sandy to help get his mother into the house.

Kirsten placed an arm around Seth, and was pleasantly surprised when he let her, and they followed behind into the house. They stood and watched as Ryan and Sandy dragged Dawn to the pool house.

"How could she do this to him?" Seth asked his mother sighing as they watched through the glass as Ryan tucked Dawn in. "She's his mother! She's not supposed to get…she's supposed to look out for him." Kirsten looked at her son and Seth surprised her even further by turning and burying his head in her shoulder.

Kirsten wrapped her arms around her son and they stood there silently for a minute before Seth finally spoke up again.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what?" Kirsten questioned running a soothing hand up and down his back and wondering when her son had gotten so big. She had turned her back for a second and Seth was almost grown.

"For not being like her, for always…for always looking out for me, and for always putting me first," Seth was suddenly realizing how lucky he was, and for the first time realizing what Ryan's childhood had been like. Seth could complain all he wanted about his crappy existence or lack there of in Newport. He could complain about Luke and the other water polo players. But he was loved. Had always known that he was loved. When he came home with black eyes, his mother had sat down with him, holding an ice pack to his face, eating cookies, and watching a movie of Seth's choice. He doubted that it was the same when Ryan had come home with bruises. He hated that the bruises probably happened after Ryan got home.

Sandy cleared his throat behind his wife and son, and they pulled apart and Kirsten turned to look at Sandy expectantly.

"We need to talk," he said to Kirsten, who nodded. Seth slipped away from Kirsten.

"I'm going to go check on Ryan," he announced. As soon as he was out of the room, Sandy crossed the remaining distance between him and his wife and put his arms around her. Kirsten buried her head in his chest and he just held her for a minute.

"What are we going to do about Dawn?" Kirsten asked. "I mean…do we just kick her out? She's Ryan's mother! I don't…" Kirsten trailed off and Sandy placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I've been thinking about that too," Sandy said leading her over to the couch. "I'm thinking maybe checking her into rehab would be the best option. I'll check out some of the better places and then we'll go from there…"

"And Ryan? Do we tell Ryan?" Sandy shrugged. He didn't know Ryan as well as his wife did. He didn't know what to tell Ryan. Would he be angry with them for interfering? Or would he be angrier to think that his mother just walked out on him once again? Telling Ryan or not telling Ryan, that was a decision that he felt that Kirsten was more qualified to make.

"I don't know honey," Sandy said. "If we tell him, and she doesn't make it through the program, or she falls off the wagon once she's out of rehab, does that make it worse? That she tried once again and failed?"

"Once again?" Kirsten questioned.

"Let's just say it's not her first foray into the world of rehab," Sandy said. "I did a little research yesterday. She's had two court appointed trips to rehab. Both resulting in her drinking almost immediately after coming home. Ryan was sent to foster care both times. Once when he was nine and then again when he was eleven."

"Oh God," Kirsten said. Sandy had told her stories of foster care, and none of it sounded very appealing. She should have figured that Ryan would have been shipped off to a foster home at some point during his childhood. Meeting Dawn had made it glaringly obvious that Ryan's childhood had been exactly what Kirsten had feared that it would be.

"Honey," Sandy's voice was firm and he took Kirsten's hand. "Do we tell Ryan?" Kirsten bit her lip and glanced out the window. Seth and Ryan were sitting in on the patio chairs, and Ryan was staring at the pool house. Kirsten looked back at her husband, and she wished that she didn't have to make this choice.

"I think we have to," Kirsten finally said. "He's not a child, Sandy. He's taken care of her almost his entire life…maybe it would be a relief for him to know that he doesn't have to anymore. That we're going to take care of it. Of her. For him."

"I think that you are right," Sandy said nodding. "Why don't we wait until tomorrow though? We could all use some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll sit down first with Dawn, and then with Ryan, and we'll discuss what's going to happen next."

Kirsten had been tossing and turning for hours, and she knew that Sandy had finally fallen asleep, and she hated to wake him up. Gently, she removed his arm from around her waist and slipped out from the covers. She walked to the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of tea. A noise and a small crash behind her made her jump a foot and she reached for something to protect herself with and really wished that she had either stayed in bed, or at the very least turned on the main light in the kitchen, instead of just the light over the stove. Finding only a rolling pin, which she wasn't entirely sure why that was out in the first place, and slightly surprised that they even had a rolling pin, she wheeled around only to find an equally surprised Ryan.

"Kirsten? What are you doing?" Ryan asked. "Were you going to take me out with a rolling pin?"

"God, Ryan, you scared the shi…you scared me," Kirsten said giving him a small smile. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied reaching into the refrigerator and pulling out the orange juice.

"Couldn't sleep," she said shrugging as she sipped her tea.

"Me neither," he admitted. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and hopped up onto the stool. She leaned back against the counter and turned to look at the pool house. It was unfair, Kirsten thought, that the reason that neither one of them was sleeping was herself sleeping like a baby.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kirsten asked turning back to face Ryan. He just shrugged.

"There's not much to talk about. She just did what she always does. I don't know why I expected anything different."

"You always think they're going to change," Kirsten said shrugging. "I do it with my father. I always he's going to change, like after thirty-seven years he's just going to be different." She sighed and took another sip of her tea. "You can't help it. Sandy doesn't understand why I let my father get away with the things that he gets away with. Which, don't even get me started on Sandy and his mother…it's hard. She's your mother. She will always be your mother, and you will forgive her, no matter what. And you'll always hope that she's going to change. No matter how many times she fails you..."

"I love her. And I hate her," Ryan said softly. "And I just wish…I just wish that she would have never come here. And then I feel terrible for wishing that…" Kirsten understood. She understood a little too well. And she wished that she could give some words of wisdom to Ryan. Someway to deal with his mother, and maybe even some way to give up on his mother, because the relief of letting Dawn go would be immense. But Kirsten was still figuring out how to let her father's constant disappointment in her not bother her. She was still figuring out how to not let her father get to her, and how to stop worrying about him. She could do nothing but walk over and place a kiss on his temple.

"You aren't terrible," she said softly. "I'm sorry for tonight."

"Why?"

"I asked her to come to Vegas Night," Kirsten said giving his arm a squeeze and placing her empty cup in the sink.

"It's not your fault," Ryan assured her. "My mother is a train wreck, and she was bound to derail soon."

"Sandy and I are going to put her in rehab," Kirsten blurted out, and then wished that she had thought about it a little more before saying it, because the look on Ryan's face broke her heart. It was fleeting, Ryan quickly got a hold of his emotions again and made his face impassive, but it was there for a second, and she saw it. "I mean, if that's okay with you. We talked about it and there are some really good places around here…and Sandy and I will take care of everything, we just thought…well, it would be good for her, and for you, to give her a second chance."

"I can't ask you to do that…" Ryan sighed. "And besides, it's not going to be her second chance, or her third, or her fourth…it's…you don't have to worry about her Kirsten. It's nice enough that you let her stay here for the past couple of days." Kirsten could feel the conversation getting out of her control and she took a deep breath and looked at Ryan.

"Ryan, she's your mother, she's your family…and you…you are a part of my family now. And I would do anything for my family. Dawn is not your responsibility anymore. You don't have to worry about her. Sandy and I will take care of everything."

"Kirsten…"

"Ryan, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you." Kirsten leaned over and brushed the hair off his face and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to go try to get some sleep. And you should too." She started to leave the kitchen when she heard Ryan's voice behind her.

"Kirsten?" She turned around to face him again.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Kirsten smiled.

"You're welcome."

Dawn sat in the backseat of the car, her bags in the trunk, and waited to see if her son would come out to say goodbye to her. The door opened and Sandy and Kirsten came out. Kirsten had offered to drive with Sandy when he took Dawn to rehab. He had done the research and found a pretty good facility not too far from Newport. Still, it was a few hours away, and Kirsten didn't mind getting to spend some time with her husband, even if half of it was spent with Dawn hungover in the backseat.

"Did you tell him we were leaving?" Sandy asked gesturing to the house. Kirsten nodded as she opened the door to the car. Just as they were getting settled and as Sandy reached to turn on the car, the front door flew open and Ryan came out. He walked up to the side of the car, and Dawn rolled down her window.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," he said.

"Bye, baby," Dawn said as she started to cry. Ryan hated the crying. He had always hated the crying. He had yet to see Kirsten cry yet, and it was one of her redeeming qualities.

"Ill see you guys when you get home," Ryan said to Kirsten and Sandy. He turned from the car and walked back into the house, and Sandy started the car and drove down the driveway to the rehab center.

After the car was out of sight, and Ryan had settled in with Seth for some Playstation, there was a knock on the door.

"You can get that," Seth said his eyes not moving from the screen.

"Oh, can I?" Ryan asked sarcastically as he moved to the front hall. He opened it to find Marissa standing there. She smiled at him.

"Hi, I was hoping that you would be home," she said. "I just wanted to check on you…make sure that you were okay after…well…what happened…"

"I'm okay," Ryan said cutting her off. They had spent most of Vegas night together, before his mother had gotten drunk and killed the evening.

"Okay," Marissa replied. They stood there awkwardly for a minute before Ryan stepped aside.

"You want to come in?"'

"Oh," Marissa grinned. "Great." She followed him in the house and into the family room where Seth was. "Hi Seth."

"What? Oh, hi Marissa….wait, Marissa?" He looked confused at Marissa Cooper being in his house, and he tilted his head to study her as if she was some foreign object that he had never before come into contact with.

"Marissa came back to see how I was doing," Ryan jumped in. "Do you want to stay?"

"We have the house to ourselves for the day," Seth said. "Ryan has never seen The Goonies and that is a travesty that must be remedied."

"The Goonies?" Marissa asked with a smile. "I love that movie. How have you never seen it?" Ryan just shrugged.

"We also have been left some money by the parents, so dinner is on them. What do you say Marissa? Are you in?" Ryan gave Seth a look that looked as if he couldn't decide if he wanted to kill Seth or hug him.

"Um, well I was supposed to meet Summer to tan, but would you mind if she came over too?" Seth nearly choked on the soda that he was drinking.

"Mind? No."

"Great, then I'll go call her," Marissa grinned and left the room and Ryan turned on Seth.

"What was that?"

"Helping a brother out," Seth retorted. "You so have a thing for her. And I figured after all the shit that has been currently hitting the rhetorical fan, that you could use a little breather. Move on to girl problems." Seth stopped considering before adding, "You know, younger girl problems."

"She'll be over," Marissa said as she came back in the room. Her best friend had not been very happy about the change of plans, but Summer had agreed, for Marissa's sake, and was on her way.

"Great," Seth said with a giddy grin on his face. What a great day, he thought. They had the house to themselves, Dawn was out of their hair and on her way to rehab, Ryan was finally getting to act like a kid, and Summer was coming to his house. His house.

It was the greatest day of his life, and it was only eleven in the morning.

Okily dokily, I have to go finish reading for my Holocaust class. So translate into I have to go cry my eyes out for the next hour or so. Make me feel better, and review!